Air regulating valve for carburetors



INVENTOR Edward 2' Condo/ WM H 4X ATTORNEY Jan. 19, 1937.

AIR REGULATING VALVE FOR CARBURETOHS Filed June 1934 DUE] DU 5 Patented Jan. 19, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT} OFFICE} AIR REGULATING VALVE FOR CARBURETORS 3 Claims.

The invention relates to an air regulating device for use with the carburetors of internal combustion engines, and more especially to an automatic air controlling device for regulating the .5 supply of air to the carburetor in accordance with the variations of load placed upon the internal combustion engine and which may be of the conventional type, the carburetor being associated therewith in the usual manner in supplying fuel thereto for its operation.

I am aware that it has been proposed to associate with the carburetor of an internal combustion engine means located Within the air intake passage of the carburetor in the nature of a swinging disk or butterfly valve, said means being actuated by a pneumatic device controlled in accordance with the fluctuations of the pressureprevailing in a connection, or the engine manifold, between the throttle valve of the carburetor and the said engine. In the use of these means, however, it has been the practice to install a blocking butterfly valve which is of substantially the same diameter as the internal diameter of the air intake passage and within which said valve is mounted to swing. In other words, it constituted an auxiliary choke serving under certain conditions to cut off fully the introduction of air to the carburetor. This, I have found, will render the carburetor ineffective for maintaining operation of the engine under all conditions, particularly at the higher speeds and under which conditions the pressure in the controlling space, and as a result of which the valve is actuated, rises substantially to atmospheric pressure so that practical closing-off of the air supply to the carburetor results from the positioning of the regulating valve. The exceedingly rich mixture then supplied to the engine thus not only causes it to stall but will so flood the carburetor that restarting of the hot engine will be difiicult, if not impossible, until it has again cooled.

The present invention relates more especially to an air regulating device of the aforesaid nature, having, however, a swinging disk of an effective area substantially less than the crosssectional area of the casing passage to afford a predetermined, permanent opening for the introduction of air to the carburetor irrespective of the position of said disk; and the invention has for an object a novel mounting of the same within the casing whereby it may be caused to rock eccentrically therein and effect thereby a swirl of the incoming air supplied for mixture with the vaporized fuel, resulting in a more perfect mixture therewith and enhanced combustion thereof.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of means of a simple and rugged nature and pneumatically actuated in accordance with the engine requirements, through communication with the intake manifold, for effecting the rocking of said disk.

Still another object of the invention resides in a regulating device of the aforesaid nature wherein the aforesaid predetermined, permanent opening for the introduction of air, exceeds the cutoff area of the disk itself in its most effective position.

In carrying out the invention, the novel regulating device is arranged to be connected in advance of the carburetor, customarily associated with an-internal combustion engine, as by means of a tubular casing forming part of said device, and fitted to the carburetor air intake passage, said casing having a through passageway. In the said passageway of this tubular casing is mounted to swing a valve disk of an effective area substantially less than the cross-sectional area of the said passageway. Furthermore, the disk is so supported therein as to Swing eccentrically with respect to the passageway through the tubular casing.

Movement for rocking the said disk. is transmitted through a gear connection to a supporting trunnion thereof extending beyond the casing, in which it is journaled; and the gearing is actuated by the pneumatic elfect upon a movable element connected therewith and communicating with the intake manifold of the internal combustion engine.

The nature of the invention, however, will best be understood when described in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a front elevation of the intake manifold with attached carburetor and cleaner, together with the novel regulating valve device as associated therewith.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view and part horizontal section of the novel regulating valve de- .vice; and Fig. 3 is an end elevation thereof, with portion in vertical section.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, the intake manifold of an internal combustion engine is indicated at 10, the manifold being designed to receive properly atomized liquid fuel derived from the carburetor ll, of any well-known or special design and equipped with the usual throttle valve l2 and choke valve [3.

To the cylindrical and open-ended air intake passageway M of the carburetor is to be connected the casing I5 of the novel air regulator device which is designed to provide a through passageway i6 adapted for coaxial relationship with that of the carburetor passageway.

Within the said casing I5 of the air regulator device is mounted to swing a disk or regulator element H, the same being mounted eccentrically on a transversely disposed rod having the ends or journals [8 and I9 passing into openings in the opposite walls of the casing l5, suitable bushings 2| and 22 being provided therein to accommodate the said ends of the rod and whose axial movement is limited at its opposite ends. The area of the disk I! is such that when in its most effective position, Fig. 2, the permanent opening will be at least from to 65% of the cross-sectional area of the passageway l6.

The one bushing, for example bushing 2|, is of the closed type and is held to the casing by means of a washer 23; and suitable pairs of bosses 24 and 25 are provided upon opposite sides of the casing about the respective bushings to accommodate the housing or cylinder for the actuating mechanism hereinafter set forth for rocking the rod and thereby disk N. This arrangement will admitof convenient location of the actuating mechanism at either side of the casing to accommodate different conditions met with in installing the regulator device, more especially with respect to the carburetor choke valve which in some carburetors extends beyond the air horn into the customary air cleaner 28 associated generally therewith;

The disk-carrying rod may also be inserted from either side and the corresponding bushings applied, with the one secured in position by the washer 23, as hereinbefore set forth. The opposite bushing 22, however, is arranged to extend into a housing or cylinder 30 for receiving the actuating mechanism, the bushing having also a flange 3| adapted to shoulder against said housing which, in turn, is arranged to be secured rigidly to the one pair of bosses 24 or 25 through screws 32. The tapped casing openings of the opposite side provided through the corresponding bosses and adapted to receive the screws 32 are arranged to be sealed by screws 33 when not thus engaged thereby. Disk 11 will be caused to swing either upwardly or downwardly, as indicated by positions a and b respectively, Fig. 3, and in accordance with the location of the said housing.

The housing 30 contains suitable operating mechanism which is arranged tobe pneumatically actuated through the pressure-fluctuations in the manifold H], as in communicating with the same through a pipe connection 35 to the interior or cylindrical chamber 36 of said housing. The one end of the rod is journaled in and also extended to pass transversely through the corresponding bushing I8 and projects into the said chamber 36 to abut a thrust bearing 31 which is adjustable in being screwed into the wall of housing 30.

At its projecting end, said journaled rod end carries a gear 38 adapted for engagement with a circular rack 39, the same being reciprocably mounted within the housing 30 and through its engagement with the gear at the end of the rod causing the latter to be rocked or rotated about its longitudinal'axis in accordance with the reciprocations of the said rack.

The position of the latter is limited in one direction by engagement of a flange 40 of the rack with a bearing member 4| secured to the housing, this position corresponding to the position of maximum obstruction to flow offered by the valve disk l1, centrally located in the passageway IB as indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawing.

The said rack, moreover, is yieldingly urged to this position under the influence of a coiled spring 42 mounted about an extension stem of the circular rack and located between the bearing member 4|, in which the stem is slidable,

and a washer 43 secured to the outer end of the stem.

Any suitable means for reciprocating the rack 39 under the influence of the pressure variations in the manifold [0 may be utilized, such as an attached diaphragm or a piston, preferably the latter, and as indicated at 44. This means will be then secured to the end of the rack opposite its spring end; and as said piston is reciprocated within the chamber 36, the rack will follow-and its movement be communicated to the valve rod through the gear engagement 'to rock the said rod.

It will be appreciated that, when the disk I! is in an intermediate position to more or less choke the flow, its eccentric location in the passageway It causes also an unequal pressure distribution of the flows past the disk which results in swirling of the incoming air and a superior intermixture with the vaporized fuel from the carburetor. This permits of substantially increasing the predetermined permanent opening for air flow about the valve disk with consequent conservation of fuel.

I claim:

1. The combination with the carburetor of an internal combustion engine having an intake pipe and the carburetor being provided with an air horn for the admission of air; of a valve casing embodying means for holding the casing in fixed relationship to the said air horn to extend the same longitudinally, a disk within the valve casing of an effective area less than the'cross-sectional area of the casing passage thereat and aifording thereby a predetermined permanent opening for the introduction of air to the carburetor irrespective of the position of the valve disk, means for eccentrically supporting said disk to rock within the casing, and pneumatically actuated means connected with the supporting means and communicating with the intake pipe for rocking the disk to vary the total opening through the valve in direct proportion to the degree of vacuum to which the pneumatically actuated means is subjected. I

2. The combination with the carburetor of an internal combustion engine having an intake pipe and the carburetor being provided with an air horn for the admission of air; of a valve casing embodying means for holding the casing in fixed relationship to the said air horn to extend the same longitudinally, a disk within the valve casing of an effective area less than the cross-sectional area of the casing passage thereat and affording thereby a predetermined permanent opening greater than the cut-off area of said disk for the introduction of air to the carburetor irrespective of the position of the valve disk, means for eccentrically supporting said disk to rock within the casing, and pneumatically actuated means connected with the supporting means and communicating with the intake pipe for rocking the disk to vary the total opening through the valve in direct proportion '75 disposed on the outside of the casing equidistantly of the respective bearings, a housing adapted to leesecured. to either pair of bosses, a circular valve fdisk journalled in the valve casing bearings, one of the journals extending beyond the casing and into said housing, a gear mounted on the extending journal, a rack meshing with the said gear and pneumatically actuated means mounted within the housing and communicating with the intake pipe for rocking the disk to vary the total opening through the valve in direct proportion to the degree of vacuum to 10 which the pneumatically actuated means is subjected.

EDWARD T. CONDON. 

